Root Beer Float Ice Cream Sandwiches

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone.  #SoHoppinGood #TopYourSummer #CollectiveBias

 You guys - it is hot where I live.  Like cook an egg on the sidewalk - hot.  Um ya -  Crazy, Crazy, dry heat and my absolute favorite time of year.  It is fabulous!!!   But with the heat comes that feeling of wanting something cold and delicious.  

Summer time means lots of cold ice water, delicious watermelon, and ice cream!!  

The other day when I woke up at 6:00 am to do my usual morning workout I stepped outside to water the plants on my porch and a wave of what we lovingly refer to as "the blow dryer" hit me in the face.  Suddenly, my usual scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast didn't sound that good, so I hopped in my car and ran over to my local Walmart to grab some ice cream, because honestly that seemed to be calling my name (and yes, I'm the mom that lets her kids eat whatever they want for breakfast - you know, ice cream, corn dog, whatever as long as they eat right?!!)  

I grabbed a small cart because I just wanted to get a couple of things (maybe I should've grabbed a big one).  I turned to go down the ice cream isle and started to browse.  Then the Blue Bunny ® ice cream was just staring me right in the face.  Seriously, I could see every scrumptious swirl of chocolate, beautiful pieces of perfectly shaped cookie dough, and twists of caramel.  Let me tell you the new clear containers are so enticing.  

I couldn't decide on just one flavor, so I ended up with 4 containers of ice cream and a  Smucker's® caramel topping.  I brought them home and ate ice cream for breakfast.   It was delicious.  But I had a ton of ice cream left so I wanted to make something else.  A fun treat just for summer.

I decided on some root beer float cookies and thought they would be perfect with the Blue Bunny ®Vanilla ice cream.

Root Beer Float Ice Cream Sandwiches

1/2 butter
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 egg
2 tsp root beer extract
1 1/2 c flour
 1/4 granulated sugar (to roll cookie dough in before baking)
1 container Blue Bunny ® Vanilla ice cream

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.  Add 1 c sugar, baking soda, and cream of tarter.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl.  Beat in the egg and root beer extract until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour.  Cover and chill for 1/2 hour.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll dough balls in sugar to coat.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake in a 350 ° oven for 10 minutes.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack or towel to cool.

Once the cookies are cool,  place a small scoop of ice cream on the wrong side of on cookie, then take your second cookie and place it wrong side down on top of the ice cream, making a sandwich.

 This is a fun easy summer treat perfect for all of these amazing, hot summer days when you are trying to beat the heat.
  

For more Blue Bunny ® recipes click here.

Submarine search and find!

Summer is half over!  I can't believe my kids will go back to school in 1 month!

We have been busy this summer, with camping and trips and swimming and all the other fun things to do this time of year.

One of the big hits this summer has been GeoSafari JR. SubScope.

My kids were so excited when it came in the mail.

It's for ages 3 and up.  My little girl loves it as much as my 13 year old niece.!!

We have been taking it everywhere with us.

The lake, the pool, the river, and anywhere in between.

My Kollin loves that it has some bright LED lights on it so he could look for seashells even in the dark!

And little miss loves to play with it in the bathtub.

We decided that a game would make this fun toy even better!

So here is how to set up and play our submarine search and find!

Get a large glass/see-through container.

Fill it water and dish soap,  (about 2/3 of water to 1/3 of bubbles)

you could even add food coloring to make it a bit more fun!

Laminate the search and find pages so the water doesn't ruin them.  And outside or somewhere that you don't mind a little splashing put the clear container over the page.

You'll want the lights on if the water is colored .

And then you play search and find.!!  

When it was each child's turn I told them what to look for.

On the JR page there is one of each image.

On the Pre-K page there are multiple, so I would say something like "Find 3 sharks"

When they found all the images it's the next child's turn.

My kids Loved this game, and I loved how hard they worked at finding each picture.

 I have put my search and find pages below.  Simply right click on the picture and open image in a new tab.  From there you will save image to computer, and you can print from there!!

JR Search and Find

Pre-K Search and Find

To buy the GeoSafari JR. Subscope  go  HERE

 *I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample GeoSafari JR. Subscope for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.*

DIY Welcome Sign

We've been in our house now for 2 years and most of the time my front porch looks a little sad.  I have fun decorations for most of the fall/winter holidays but not much for the rest of the year.  I wanted something pretty simple but also classy for the rest of the year. 

I've been completely in love with all the copper decor lately and knew that it was definitely one of the colors I wanted to incorporate into my decor.  I had been collecting rustic tins for a while, but thought I could give them a little makeover with some copper spray paint. 

My neighbor gave us a couple of pallets that she wasn't using and I knew we could make them into something cute.  My hubby and I spent a couple of hours ripping out nails and taking the pallets apart.  The first thing we made was the lantern.  I liked it so much that I decided we needed something for the other side of the door.  I had seen some cute welcome signs on Pinterest and it seemed perfect.

 It was much harder that I thought it would be to take these pallets apart, but it was worth the effort.

 For the sign, we used 2 boards that where pretty straight and not too dinged up for the front.  We left them the original length, which was about 4 feet long.  Then we cut a few boards into pieces(about 6 inches long) to use on the back as support.

 Next we clamped, glued, and nailed the smaller boards to the back of the 2 long boards.

 

 We secured the boards in 3 spots.  Then we let them dry.  I loved the color of the boards already because the pallet was from some bags of cement.  They had a slight grey color to them.  I sanded them a bit and used 2 coats of white wash over them to really make the knots and dings stand out, because I loved the character of the boards.  My daughter cut out the "welcome" letters on her cricket, but you could also use the paper and pen method that I've used in the past.